Wes Cowan is founder and owner of Cowan's Auctions, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. An internationally recognized expert in historic Americana, Wes stars in the PBS television series History Detectives and is a featured appraiser on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. He writes an antiques column for the Cincinnati Enquirer and is a frequently requested speaker at antiques events around the country. Wes is licensed as an auctioneer in Ohio and holds a B.A. and M.A. in anthropology from the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Wes grew up in a household filled with Victorian antiques, nurtured by a mother who liked all things "old." Torn between the antiques business and American archaeology, Wes first chose a course that set him on an academic road.

After receiving his doctorate degree, Wes taught in the Anthropology department of Ohio State University. In 1984 he moved to Cincinnati to assume the post of curator of archaeology at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. He has published widely in the fields of American archaeology and paleoethnobotany, and is co-editor of The Origins of Agriculture in International Perspective and Societies in Eclipse: Eastern North America at the Dawn of European Colonization.

In 1995, Wes left academia and the museum world to return to his childhood love, antiques. Since then, Cowan's Auctions has grown from a one-man shop to a nationally recognized business with annual sales approaching $20 million.

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is an antiques appraisal event and television production; we do not buy or sell objects, and conducting any business with an appraiser at the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW event is strictly forbidden.

If you decide to do business with an appraiser who has appeared on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, please keep in mind these tips before consigning or selling an item:

Get more than one referral and check references

Get valuations of your item from more than once source

Compare options between different types of sellers, i.e., a dealer versus an auction house

If you are considering consigning an object for auction, be sure to inquire how the item will be priced, the size of the fee, and the expected amount of time the process may take. Find out what will happen if it doesn't sell.

Check the appraiser's professional associations (such as International Society of Appraisers, American Appraisers Association, National Auctioneers Association)

Consult an attorney before signing a contract

Whatever kind of transaction you decide to enter into, always get a detailed written receipt for your records

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW’s pool of experts are professionals with a wide range of experience in the antiques, fine art and collectibles community, and they are from a diverse background of auctioneers, dealers and appraisers.

All ROADSHOW appraisers are independent volunteers who donate their time and expertise to PBS and who pay their own expenses to be on the show. All business transactions are independent from ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.